Survey: Mobile moms browse, buy on own schedule

By Katherine Boccaccio

Dallas -- Survey results released Monday by Alliance Data Retail Services found that many mothers are tapping into their mobile phones’ capabilities to help with their hectic lives, whether via text, tag or talk.

The Alliance Data Mobile Moms Retail Survey, which measured the attitudes and opinions of female store-branded credit card holders about their mobile devices, found that moms are quick to use their mobile phones to shop versus driving to the store to make purchases. In fact, 29% said the No. 1 reason they use their phones to shop is because it’s quick and easy.

The survey also found that more than half of mothers who own a mobile device use them at least once a week as part of their shopping experience in some capacity.

“Moms are learning how to flex their spending power through tools such as mobile applications, and are using the phones’ powerful search and filtering capabilities to make informed purchasing decisions,” said Melody Gintert, senior manager, market intelligence for Alliance Data Retail Services. “Mobile commerce is an important tool for everyone, but especially for moms, as it provides yet another way to help them multi-task their way through the day as they continue to make buying decisions for the household while juggling the rest of their to-do lists.”

Almost all – 96% – of moms surveyed said they like receiving SMS/text messages and emails from their favorite retailers. Receiving information about special offers, sales and new merchandise keeps moms engaged and encourages them to visit those retailers, whether in-person or virtually.

And 44% are self-professed showroomers, using their phones to actively shop and compare products online, especially at electronics stores and big-box retailers.

Moms are also using their smart phones’ capabilities to make the shopping process easier. Using their phone’s camera, for example, they can snap a photo and post it, tag it or send it to a friend, their spouse, or their kids for a quick opinion before purchasing the item – often while chatting with them from the store. Then if they’re not ready to buy, they’ll save the image to remember the item for later.